


Complications

by OreoLuvr13



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Barisi - Freeform, Episode: s17e19 Sheltered Outcasts, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-18 16:52:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14856557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OreoLuvr13/pseuds/OreoLuvr13
Summary: Complications arise after Sonny's run in with the victim's father in "Sheltered Outcasts."





	1. Chapter 1

Rafael tiredly lets himself into their apartment. It’s been a long day. No it’s been a long week. Scratch that, it’s been a long month, ever since Sonny went undercover in that homeless shelter. He perks up a little when he sees Sonny’s coat laying on the back of the couch. Sonny’s home.

Rafael wishes that he could have been home earlier to properly welcome his boyfriend home, but he couldn’t. The last couple of weeks have been brutal in the DA’s office. It’s been one case after another without a break, leaving Rafael on edge. Sonny’s long disappearance certainly added to his shitty mood. That combination has made him an asshole, well more of one as of late. To Carmen. To Liv. To basically anyone he shared air with over the last month. 

But Liv’s earlier text of “Carisi is back home” definitely brightened things. After Liv’s text, Sonny sent one of his own “I’m out. Come home soon. I miss you, Rafi.”

Unfortunately, Rafael was forced to tell Sonny that he wouldn’t be home until later. Despite the lackluster news, Sonny was still able to brighten Rafael’s day with a “It’s okay, I’ll be here. Love you.”

And Sonny was here. Finally. After all this time.

“Sonny?” Rafael calls as walks into their home. Sonny isn’t in the living room or the kitchen. He walks down to the hallway and towards the bedroom. He stops at the door and soaks in the appearance of the man who he has not seen in nearly a month.

Sonny is facing the door almost as if he was waiting for Rafael to return home. Rafael is met with silence as he steps further into the room. Sonny’s soft, slow even breathing signals he’s sleeping. Part of Rafael is sad that Sonny is asleep. He’s waited weeks for this. But, he’s also happy that Sonny is sleeping. From what he has heard Sonny could definitely use it. Even though he has not seen the younger man when he was undercover, Rollins has. She’s told Rafael on several occasions that Sonny looked like crap. 

At the moment, Rafael couldn’t disagree more. Sonny looks amazing. He’s here. In their bed. Right where he’s supposed to be.

Rafael quickly and quietly gets ready for bed. It seems like it takes much longer than it should until he is finally able to slide into the sheets, putting an arm around Sonny’s waist. He pulls back a little when Sonny lets out a low groan.

“Hey,” Rafael says as Sonny settles down.

“Hey,” Sonny replies. “Missed you.”

Rafael kisses Sonny behind his ear. “Missed you more.”

“You okay?” Rafael asks. 

Sonny sighs. “It was rough.”

Rafael pulls the other man closer. To reassure him that he’s back home and not at that awful shelter. But, Sonny flinches slightly.

Rafael leans up a little, so he can get a good look at Sonny. “What’s wrong?”

“My back. It’s just a little sore.” Sonny replies.

“You sure?” Rafael asks.

Sonny nods. “It’s okay.”

“And the rest of you?” Rafael asks as he lays back down.

“That’ll be okay too,” Sonny says. 

Rafael can hear the "in time at the end of the statement." That’s completely understandable. What Sonny had to do every day when he was undercover had to have been draining, not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well. But, Sonny is home now, and Rafael will do everything in his power to be there for him. To give him whatever he needs.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Rafael asks as he kisses the back of Sonny’s neck.

Sonny whispers no, but leans into Rafael's kiss.

“What do you need?” Rafael asks.

“This,” Sonny sighs contently as he holds Rafael’s arms tight around his waist. “I just need you like this.”

That Rafael can do. He nuzzles into Sonny’s neck hoping to give him some comfort. Even if it’s just a fraction of what Rafael gets just lying in bed with Sonny as they fall asleep.

XXX

Rafael is the first to wake up the next morning. He’s not surprised though. Sonny had a rough night. Despite how tired he was Sonny kept waking up throughout the night. He was also clearly hurting even though he told Rafael that he was ‘only sore’ the night before. The older man thinks Sonny is definitely down playing how badly he’s feeling. During the night Sonny alternated between being down right clingy, wrapping his long arms around Rafael only to push away the older man just minutes later.

But, at least Sonny is finally sleeping peacefully now. This was a tough undercover op. He knows that Sonny is exhausted from staying in the shelter all those weeks and could use the sleep. Rafael gives him a quick kiss on the cheek and quietly leaves the bedroom to let Sonny sleep.

The first thing Rafael does when he enters the kitchen is start the coffee maker. He goes through some emails and putters around the kitchen. After his second cup of coffee, he decides to make some breakfast. He can only imagine how bad the food at the shelter was. The younger man looks like he lost weight and that is the last thing Sonny needs. Sonny could definitely use some good home cooking, Granted, it’s usually the detective who does most of the cooking, but Rafael thinks that he can handle something as simple as scrambling some eggs and frying some bacon without much trouble. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and breakfast seem to do the trick. Rafael gives Sonny a small smile when Sonny walks into the kitchen, hair mussed from sleep.

“Morning,” Rafael greets, kissing Sonny on the cheek.

“Mornin’,” Sonny replies returning the kiss before he takes a seat at the kitchen island. He takes a sip of his coffee and grabs the plate of scrambled eggs and bacon that Rafael hands him. 

“You cooked?” Sonny asks as he looks at Rafael like he hung the moon.

“It was nothing,” Rafael shrugs as he takes a bite of bacon. 

“No, it’s not,” Sonny says grabbing Rafael hand. “Thanks, Rafi.”

“Eat up. Looks like you could use a few good meals.” 

Sonny takes a small bite. Content that Sonny is eating, he decides to move onto more pressing matters. “So what do you want to do today?”

Sonny puts his fork down and lays his head down using his arms as a pillow. “Nothin.’ Just wanna stay here with you.”

Rafael runs his hand through the other man’s hair. “Sounds good to me.”

Sonny remains quiet and still as Rafael tidies up the kitchen. He turns to see Sonny still laying with his head on his arms, his food basically untouched.

“What you don’t like my cooking?”

“Huh?” Sonny asks as he picks his head up.

Rafael motions to the plate of food. “This is the thanks I get for cooking you breakfast. That’ll be-“

But he stops when Sonny suddenly lurches off the stool and makes a beeline towards the bathroom with a hand covering his mouth.

“Oh come on!” Rafael exclaims as he follows the younger man. “My cooking can’t be that bad.” 

XXX

Over the next couple of hours keeps Rafael busy as he plays nursemaid to Sonny. And that is perfectly fine with Rafael. Unlike, Sonny who nearly trips over his long legs in an attempt to get away from Rafael when he is sick, Rafael has no problem taking care of the other man when he comes down with something. This morning he has been the epitome of the perfect boyfriend bringing Sonny water and saltine crackers and rubbing the back of his neck soothingly as he gets sick throughout the morning. Rafael feels strangely at ease as he lays sandwiched between Sonny and the couch, with Sonny curled up facing him. 

As Sonny dozes fitfully on the couch, Rafael has one hand running through Sonny’s hair and the other holding a file. He’s reading it over to prepare for an upcoming trial. His eyes are on the file, but he’s still keeping a constant eye on Sonny. Waiting to see if the few sips of water he got Sonny to swallow a half an hour ago are going to stay down. 

Needing a break, Rafael puts the papers aside and takes a good look at Sonny. Man. Sonny’s a mess. He’s pale except for a matching pair of red patches high on his cheeks, a telltale sign of a fever. The bags under his eyes are even bigger and darker than they were just hours earlier. Then again, the vomiting is the most likely culprit for the exhaustion. The last round was especially vicious leaving Sonny swaying and unsteady on his feet.

He’s about ready to get back to work when he sees two of the bluest eyes looking at him. “Hey, how are you doing?”

“’Kay. I think I picked something up at the shelter. Some kind of bug”

“You think?” Rafael replies, rolling his eyes. “This is some germ you picked up at that cesspool. No way this is because of my cooking.”

“’Prolly not. Feels like I picked up the plague,” Sonny says closing his eyes. 

“You and your germophobic slash hypochondriac tendencies,” Rafael says as he runs his hand over Sonny’s warm cheek. “What am I going to do with you?”

Sonny starts fidgeting. At first, Rafael thinks he’s moving closer to him, so Rafael has a biting comment on the tip of his tongue. Something along the lines of ‘it’s fine for you to lay all over me and infect me when you’re sick, but you throw a box of tissues at me from the other side of the room when I sneeze two times in a row.’ 

But then Sonny does some impressive fancy foot work and ends up sprinting off the couch and down the hall towards the bathroom. Just as he did the earlier, Rafael follows him.

Sonny is hovering over the toilet emptying his stomach contents for what feels like the hundredth time that day. Rafael bends down and rubs his hand over the other man’s back, hoping to provide him with some kind of comfort. Sonny is too busy spitting bile and water into the toilet that he doesn’t move away from the older man’s touch, like he has last night and earlier this morning. Rafael instantly removes his hand when Sonny lets out a heart wrenching whimper.

Equal parts confused and concerned, Rafael lifts Sonny’s sweaty t-shirt. He lets out a curse when instead of seeing pale, milky white skin he sees a large deep blue, nearly black bruise encompassing Sonny’s lower back. Shit. This is not good. 

“Jesus, Sonny! What the hell happened to your back?!”

But Sonny can’t answer him. He’s too busy throwing up his stomach lining.

Screw it. He’s going directly to the source. Liv told him that Sonny got a ‘little roughed up’, but this isn’t that. This is more along the lines of ‘beat to hell.’ He needs answers.

He takes out his phone and luckily Liv answers on the second ring. “Hi, Rafa. Are you enjoying your weekend with Sonny?” she asks cheekily.

“Not quite,” Rafael replies as Sonny once again vomits into the toilet.

“Is that Sonny?” Liv asks. “Is he sick?”

“What happened to him?” Rafael asks as he squeezes the back of Sonny’s clammy neck

“What? On the undercover op?”

Rafael takes a minute to reel in his frustration. When he feels like he somewhat composed, he continues. Yes! The undercover op! His back is all bruised. You said he got a little roughed up. This is not what a little roughed up looks like!”

“Easy, Rafa. One of the vic father’s recognized him from the police station. He and a couple of his friends went after him with a bat. I know Sonny’s back was hurting him, but when I asked if he needed to go to the ER, he said no. That nothing was broken.”

“Of course he did,” Rafael mutters as Sonny starts another round of vicious vomiting. Is there anything left for him to throw up?”

“Rafa? What’s going on?” Liv asks concerned. “Is Sonny okay?”

Rafael steps away from Sonny to speak to Liv. That way he can have a moment to freak out away from Sonny where the younger man can’t hear. “No, he’s not. He’s sick. And he’s-“

But, a sudden loud gasp from Sonny grabs his attention mid-sentence. “Rafi?” a scared Sonny calls out turning to look over at Rafael.

“What is it?” Rafael asks as he moves to stand behind Sonny. His eyes zeroing in on what has Sonny so scared. To where Sonny is staring. At first he's confused when he follows Sonny's eyes staring into the toilet. But then he sees it. Along with the vomit and bile, there are dark streaks of red. Blood. Sonny is puking blood.

“Rafa?! What’s going on? Damn it! Answer me, Rafa!” Liv yells through the phone.

“Rafi?” Sonny’s voice cracks looking up at him with scared blue eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

“Rafa?! What’s going on? Damn it! Answer me, Rafa!” Liv yells through the phone.”

“Rafi?” Sonny’s voice cracks looking up at him with scared blue eyes. 

Rafael stands frozen in his bathroom. He ignores Liv calling out to him. His attention is back on Sonny as he is once again vomiting. But this time it’s thick streams of blood. FUCK. Sonny is vomiting blood. 

At that instant as all hell is breaking lose he can’t help but recall all those movies where the heroes in their last breath, as they take their last stand and profess their undying love, do so with blood dripping down their chin because they’re dying of internal bleeding. But, this isn’t the movies. This is real life. This is Sonny. And there’s no way in hell Sonny is dying in their bathroom choking on his own blood. Not with Rafael there. No way in hell is he is going to let that happen.

The sickening sound of sick hitting water breaks Rafael from his thoughts and brings him back to the task at hand. He needs to get Sonny help.

“Liv, I have to call you back.” Rafael says as he hangs up before she can reply.

He turns his attention to Sonny as he vomits more bloody vomit into the toilet. “It’s okay,” Rafael says as he bends down and squeezes the back of Sonny’s clammy neck. “You’re okay. I got you.”

Sonny blindly grabs a fist of Rafael’s shirt. “Rafi, I…I…”

Rafael puts his hand over Sonny’s. “I’m going to call for help. Just hold on to me. Just like this.”

The fear is palpable in the blue eyes that are staring at him. And it takes everything in Rafael’s power not to cringe when he sees the blood on Sonny’s lips. He squeezes Sonny’s hand that is still fisted in his shirt. “That’s it. Hold on to me. I got you.”

Sonny nods at him with those too trusting eyes. Trusting Rafael that he will get him through this. The look of unbridled trust catapults Rafael into action as he dials 911. It takes way too many rings in Rafael’s opinion before a 911 dispatcher picks up. When they do, it takes all his willpower to remain calm and not yell into the phone that he needs help now. He’s no help to Sonny if he’s a panicky mess. If anything it will only delay Sonny from getting treatment. He’s heard too many 911 tapes where loved ones are yelling and crying as they tell the dispatchers what happened. He can’t be like that. Sonny needs help now. He needs Rafael to be calm.

In a clear and concise tone he calmly tells the emergency personnel on the other end of the phone, “I need an ambulance. My partner is vomiting blood.

XXX

“Rafa!” Liv calls out to him as she rushes into the waiting room. “What the hell happened?! How is Carisi?”

There’s no doubt that Liv can tell just by looking at him that things are bad. Really bad. That after he got off with the 911 dispatcher Sonny continued vomiting blood. And a lot of it. It took everything in Rafael’s power to remain calm as Sonny continued vomiting as they waited for the ambulance to arrive. That Rafael has never been relieved to see two people before in his life than he was when the EMT’s entered their apartment.

Not that the ambulance ride was much better. The vomiting continued in the ambulance ride and because of that Sonny’s blood volume was getting dangerously low, not to mention his blood pressure. When the vomiting finally started to subside, so did Sonny’s alertness. That despite his and the paramedics’ best efforts Sonny was barely responding to their commands by the time he was wheeled into the ER.

It wasn’t until he was alone in the waiting room, his shirt covered in Sonny’s blood that he remembered he told Liv that he would call her back. He didn’t have the energy to actually talk to her, so he settled with sending her a short and quick to the point text: Sonny’s at Mercy. He’s vomiting blood.

Liv’s reply was quick and thankfully she didn’t ask any questions. Good thing too. Since he more than likely wouldn’t have been able to give her any answers. All she said was that she would be there right there.

And there she was. “Have you heard anything?”

Rafael shakes his head as she takes the seat next to him. “Not much. They think it’s some kind of internal bleeding from that beating he took a few days ago.”

“Jesus,” Liv sighs as she takes a seat next to him. They remain like there sitting silent for a while. Rafael ignores her attempts to wrestle some kind of conversation out of him as his eyes zero in on the doors that Sonny is behind. Waiting anxiously for someone to come out and tell him something. Anything. Finally, Liv takes the hint and stops her attempts in trying to get him to talk and they just sit there in silence.

Rafael is staring at Bella’s contact information on his phone when he feels Liv squeezing his knee. At first, he thinks it’s just a gesture from a friend feeling lost at what to do, so he continues to look down at his phone. 

“Rafa,” she says as she gives his knee another squeeze.

“What?” he asks a little bit annoyed as he turns to look at her. 

She motions to a doctor that is making his way over towards them. Rafael instantly stands as he recognizes him from the pack of medical personnel that swarmed Sonny’s gurney as he was unloaded from the ambulance. Liv follows his lead as he stands.

“Mr. Barba,” the doctor greets the pair.

“Dr. Logan,” Rafael replies. “What’s going on? How’s Sonny?”

The doctor holds up his hand. “He’s holding his own.”

What the hell does that mean? Can't the doctor just give him a straight answer? Not one so carefully worded as not to give false promises. To save him from being disappointed later on in case things go downhill. God, it's like listening to himself speak with victims and their families during a case. 

“It took a while, but we were able to stabilize him. His blood pressure is still dangerously low. But, it hasn’t dropped anymore since he came in.”

“Do you think it’s internal bleeding? The medics mentioned something about that in the ambulance.” Rafael says.the bleeding. Once we locate the source of the bleed, we’re going to stop it.”

Dr. Logan fixes his glasses. “I do. Based on his symptoms, the bruising on the back, and the results from the CT Scan, it looks like it’s his kidneys.”

His kidneys? You need your kidneys. Yes, you have two but what if’s both of them? You can live without one, but not both. And what if the doctor removes one and the one left stops working? Then what? Dialysis?

“Rafa?” Liv asks. From the concerned look on her face, he guesses that this isn’t the first time she called his name.

“Yeah, sorry.” He turns back to the doctor. “Go ahead.”

Dr. Logan lets out a tired sigh before he continues. “So, as I was saying we’re going to take him up to surgery. We believe it’s his kidneys, but we’re going to explore everything to make sure we find the source of the bleeding. Once we locate the source of the bleed, we’re going to stop it.”

“Are you going to remove his kidney?” Rafael asks quietly. He needs to know. He needs to prepare himself, so he has time to wrap his head around everything before he has to tell Sonny. 

“Not if I don’t have to,” Dr. Logan answers.

Rafael huffs. “What the hell does that mean? If you don’t have to?”

“Rafael,” Liv hisses as she places her hand on his elbow. “Let the doctor explain.”

Rafael runs a hand over his chin. “Sorry, I’m… just.”

The physician gives him a small, understanding smile. “I understand. A situation like this can be overwhelming to say the least. But, as I was saying my main objective is to go in there and stop the bleeding. If I can do that by repairing the damaged veins and arteries, I’ll do that. If I have to perform a nephrectomy, I’ll remove the damaged kidney. I’ll do what I have to stop the bleeding. That is my number one priority heading into surgery.”

“What happens if you have to remove the kidney? Will he have to go on dialysis?” Rafael asks.

“Try not to think about that right now. We’ll cross that bridge if we have to. If I have to remove a kidney, I will go over everything that you need to know after surgery.”

“Do you think it’s likely that it will come to that?” Liv asks.

Dr. Logan adjusts his glasses. “I won’t know for sure until I get in there. His vitals are not where I want them to be, but he’s not in shock yet. That’s a good thing. Yes, he lost more blood than I would like. But, with the blood transfusion and fluids we’re pushing, his numbers seemed to have stabilized a bit. Now, do you have any more questions for me?”

Oh, Rafael has plenty. But, now is probably not the best time. Sonny needs surgery and him tying up the doctor with hundreds of questions right now is not going to accomplish that.

“I think I’m all set for now,” Rafael replies. 

But after the surgery is another story. The doctor better be ready to set aside an indeterminable amount of time to go over everything about Sonny’s recovery. Everything from the time table of his recovery to every possible complication and everything in between, Everything.

“Okay, then. I’m going to head up to surgery. The OR waiting room is on the 5th floor. The chairs are much more comfortable if you two want to head up there,” The doctor says before he turns and leaves the ER waiting room.

Alone with Liv again, she leads him to the elevator. He stands there in his blooded shirt and lets her take the lead as she presses the elevator button for the 5th floor. 

“He’s going to be okay,” she says turning to him. “He has a lot to fight for.”

He looks her straight in the eye. Partly because he can’t bare to look down at his shirt that’s covered in blood. Not just anyone’s blood. But, Sonny’s blood. But, also because he knows deep down that Liv is right Sonny is going to be okay. That Sonny has a lot to fight for. Them.  
They’ve been fighting for this relationship from the beginning. They’ve fought all those glares and cruel comments not only muttered by strangers, but also from people they’ve known and worked alongside with for years, since they disclosed their relationship. They fought skepticism from both of their families in the beginning. They’ve fought every insult hurled their way with their heads held high. None of that broke them. Instead it only made them stronger. And that is what this situation is going to do too. Make them stronger. There’s no way Sonny is going to succumb to internal bleeding from injuries inflicted on him from an overzealous victim’s father. No. That’s not going to happen. He’s too strong for that. They’re too strong for that.

Just as the elevator door opens to the fifth floor, Rafael says “You’re damn right he does. He’s not going anywhere.”

Liv smiles at him as she follows him out the elevator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not in the medical profession, but I did do my best in researching this. Any medical inaccuracies are purely accidental. I will do more thorough research before I post my next story.

**Author's Note:**

> I know that I have two other sick Sonny WIP's, but I just couldn't help myself. Look for updates to my other stories throughout the week. Thanks :)


End file.
